The invention relates to an ink jet printing apparatus having a flexible electrical connector between the printer control and the printhead.
Printers of this type require an electrical connection from the printer control to the printhead to ensure activation of the appropriate nozzles for ejection of ink droplets in accordance with a dot pattern in order to create images on a print paper. In such devices, there is an ink cartridge carrier mounting an ink cartridge having a plurality of ink ejection channels and an ink chamber. The ink cartridge has a plurality of electrical contacts, each electrical contact being electrically connected to an ink ejection channel. The ink ejector may be either a resistance element generating heat to create a bubble for ejection of the droplet or a piezoelectric device for changing the volume of the ink ejection channel.
The flexible cable carries the signals from the control unit to the appropriate electrical contacts of the ink ejection channels on the ink cartridge. Thus, it is necessary to mount a contact end of the flexible cable to the ink cartridge carriage. To do so, prior art ink cartridge carriers were formed in at least two pieces, a main carriage body which receives the ink cartridge and a clamping member. The end of the flexible cable, having electrical contacts matched with the electrical contacts of the ink cartridge, is placed between the carriage and the clamping member. The clamping member is then closed to clamp and hold the end of the flexible cable.
Such an arrangement increases the complexity of the ink cartridge carrier thereby increasing its cost to manufacture and its assembly costs. It also provides another element of the printer subject to breakage.